snufkinette

Sorry if this should be posted in Trailer Park, but I wasn't sure, as my husband is travelling to the States with me on a marriage-based visa.

Okay, so we hope to move over in May, as my husband's visa interview is 9th April. Whoo! Our plan all along has been to fly into Atlanta first to visit my family and buy a car in Georgia (with my brother on hand for advice, as he knows things about cars!) before trundling up to North Carolina, where we hope to start our new life. The Triangle, to be specific. We are then going to stay in temporary accommodation until my husband gets a job, thus enabling us to secure more long-term rented accommodation (unless we manage to find a landlord willing to let a place to us without us being employed yet via, say Craigslist, and yes, we know about the scams).

However, I wonder now if we would be better off going to NC first to settle ourselves and then visit family once we have taken care of various things. Part of what prompted this thought was that buying a car in GA may be tricky if we are to be NC residents. I'm thinking about insurance, registration, etc. My husband will use his UK driving licence initially, and I will have to take the driver's exam.

Or am I being overly cautious? I can't waaait to see my family and introduce them to our baby.

Can anyone suggest other reasons I may not have considered why we might be better off starting off in NC rather than GA? Obviously, my husband would be able to start his job search all the sooner. I really would like to have my brother to consult with regard to buying a used car, though! Decisions, decisions.

I appreciate this is clearly going to be down to personal preference to a certain extent, but I thought people with experience/knowledge might be able to give some helpful advice. Thanks in advance.

Noorah101

Buying a car in one state and then re-registering it in another state is usually not a big deal. It can be done.

The harder part is going to be buying the car itself...you'll need proof of car insurance. I'm not sure if they'll accept your husband's UK driving license. You can get a license in GA and then buy the car, and then change over your license once you get into NC, I guess.

Also, if your husband is arriving on an Immigrant Visa, they will need a stable US mailing address at the POE where he can receive his plastic green card and SSN. Would you be giving them the GA family address, and then have them send it to you after you move to NC?

Rene

Noorah101

I moved it to the General USA forum, where there's more discussion of drivers license, car purchase, and car insurance.

Rene
Moderator

slummymummy

We got car insurance on our UK licenses and then when we got our US licenses we told the insurance company and they made the insurance cheaper. Not sure if all companies do this. I could give you the contact details for our broker if you need it.

GeoffM

On the one hand, getting over and settled quickly is better than having to stop over at relatives first. All the baggage to deal with, plus husband might want to settle down quickly rather than be with (unknown?) relatives initially. It's a lot to take in with a move to the US! I know my wife (who joined me a month after I arrived in the US) just wanted to go "home" - the new home, that is.

On the other hand, once he starts a job, he might not get much holiday time initially to do any family visits, so it might be better to get those out of the way early on.

Michael

Some states that charge sales tax may charge a "user tax" when you register a car purchased in another state less than about 2 years previously. In essence, you may be paying sales tax twice.

Also if you don't quickly register the car in the new state quickly, there is a possibility that you could be stopped and fined so you could be paying registration fees twice.

joto

What about the brother coming up to NC to help with the car search, and then you go to see the rest of the family, or they come to visit.

Bob

It's normally within 12 months of buying it that the second state will levy a sales/use tax.

The issue normally would be in getting out of paying the sales tax in the first state, as often you would need to provide proof that you are resident of another state and will be taking the car out of state.

So in this instance, without that proof, chances are, OP will have to pay sales tax twice and try and claim the first set back afterwards, if possible.

snufkinette

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Very helpful! Yeah, it's sales tax and stuff like that which has had me concerned.

No, we wouldn't have proof of residence in NC if we went straight to GA.

Speaking of proof of residence, if we set up an American HSBC account in advance and have statements delivered to our temporary accommodation. I think this should suffice as proof of address, but I suppose it depends on what I want the proof for!

Oh, and my husband has already met my family and gets on well with them.

I had considered asking my brother to come up and help us, but that depends on how easy it would be for him to find the time, and we wouldn't have our own place to offer him a bed for the night.

Still deliberating.